


Mine

by Kendra_Storm



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friends to Lovers, Keith is just an emotionally constipated baby that needs love, Lance is a good listener, M/M, Sharing a Bed, Shiro is missing, Songfic, minor injury, the others are mentioned - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-02-18
Packaged: 2019-10-30 18:26:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17833811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kendra_Storm/pseuds/Kendra_Storm
Summary: Keith is struggling to lead after Shiro’s disappearance. Lance comforts him and becomes his rock, leading to Keith developing feelings for him.Based off of Mine by Taylor Swift





	Mine

It was always Lance. Whenever the team split up, Keith was always put with Lance. At first, this bugged Keith, but after getting to know the blue paladin more over the course of their space adventures, Keith found he didn't mind it as much as before. However, now as the pair traipsed through a jungle-covered planet in the hopes of finding some ingredients for a remedy to some Altean sickness that Coran was suffering from, Keith felt himself becoming riled up by Lance's incessant ramblings.

“Why is it that we get stuck with the planets that are always bug infested?” Lance complained loudly, swatting at some insect that was buzzing around his head.

Keith grit his teeth. “Once we find the plant we need, we can get out of here. So, stop complaining, and start looking.”

Lance was quiet for a brief, blissful moment before he grumbled, “Whatever you say, Grumpypants.”

Keith sighed heavily through his nose, unable to facepalm through his helmet but feeling the urge all the same. 

As they trudged through mud and over roots, the two scanned the foilage for what they needed. Keith occasionally glanced at the picture Allura had found in one of the musty books lying around of what they were looking for, feeling like they were on a wild goose chase the longer they walked. All of the sudden, Keith heard Lance gasp. Keith whirled around, ready to attack, but only saw Lance looking in awe at something in the distance. 

“Lance, what is it?” Keith moved closer to him, placing a hand on his arm to snap Lance out of his reverie.

“Look!” Lance spun Keith, forcing his gaze to the right where a huge body of water lay. “It looks just like a lake.”

It was true. There was even a small beach surrounding the perimeter of the lake. Keith smiled slightly at Lance's excitement, sliding his eyes back to him. Lance's smile, lately more than ever, always seemed to send a shot of warmth into Keith's chest. Keith would do almost anything to make sure that Lance kept smiling like that, which is why, before he could think, he heard himself say, “Want to go check it out?”

Lance whipped his head towards Keith, still smiling but his eyebrows furrowing. “What about the plant?”

“We can search by the water. Maybe the reason we aren't having any luck in the jungle is because it grows near water.” Keith shrugged.

Lance nodded slowly, bringing his hand to his chin in fake-thought. “That is a solid theory…”

“Come on.” Keith chuckled softly at Lance’s antics, grabbing his arm and tugging him towards the lake. Lance tugged his arm free, and Keith was about to feel hurt, but then he saw the smirk making its way across Lance’s face.

“Race you!” He crowed, bolting through the trees.

“Lance!” Keith called angrily, but he began running all the same. The look on Lance’s face when Keith beat him to the water’s edge was priceless, and he couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“No fair!” Lance cried indignantly, and Keith half expected him to stomp his foot like a child.

“No fair?” Keith finally said when the laughter subsided, “You got a head start!”

“Still…” Lance mumbled sadly.

“Whatever. Let’s keep looking for the plant, okay?” Keith knew they couldn’t avoid their mission forever, no matter how beautiful the scenery. Although it wasn’t life or death, Coran was still sick and was waiting on them to bring him a cure. 

Lance groaned. “Can’t we at least take a little break? It’s hot and we’ve been searching for hours!”

Fighting a grin, Keith conceded. They took a seat on the shore, watching the water lap at the sand near their feet. 

“It reminds me of Earth.” Lance said softly after a few minutes of comfortable silence, and Keith nodded his agreement. “I miss it.”

“Me too.” Keith brought his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, leaning his head against his legs so he could watch Lance’s face as he spoke.

“I can’t wait to go back. I miss my family.” Keith felt a pang in his chest, knowing that there was no one awaiting his return back home. Lance, as if realizing this, quickly added, “I also miss, you know, human girls.”

Keith snorted. “You and your flirting.”

Lance smiled, but it was tinged with sadness. “Yeah. But it’ll be nice to go back and find someone. Settle down, get married.”

“Hm.” Keith hummed noncommittally.

“What, you don’t want to get married?” Lance asked, finally pulling his eyes from the lake to look at Keith.

“I don’t know. I guess I just think love is a bother. It never lasts, anyway.” Keith sounded bitter, even to his own ears.

“Do you really believe that?”

Keith felt his heart stutter at Lance’s soft, somewhat bewildered tone. He sounded almost sad for Keith. Keith turned his head the other way, feeling his face heat. Maybe he had said too much, revealed too much. He shrugged his response. He jumped as Lance slung his arm around Keith’s shoulder in a comforting manner, his hand rubbing Keith’s arm.The scent of the other boy wafter over to Keith, and he had to keep himself from wondering just how Lance managed to smell that good. Keith determinedly didn’t look Lance’s way, his face growing even hotter.

“Come on.” Lance said after a few minutes as he got to his feet and held out a hand to Keith, which he took.

“What are you doing?” Keith asked once Lance had helped him to his feet.

“We’re going swimming.” 

“Are you insane?” Keith said flatly. 

Lance just flashed him a wolfish grin.

“There could be something in there for all we know.”

Lance took his hand and started tugging him towards the water in response.

“Lance, seriously, what about the mission?” Keith asked, though he didn’t struggle.

“It’s okay to be a bit rebellious sometimes, Keith. I thought you knew that as the Garrison’s resident bad boy?”

Keith snorted despite himself. Together, they waded into the water, Keith shifting so he could float on the surface. He had to admit, it was nice pretending that he had no reponsibilities, just floating. Of course, Lance couldn’t give him a minute of peace and began to splash him. This started a splaching match that eventually turned into a wrestling match, and as Keith was shoved roughly underwater, he saw something through the water. As he broke the surface, he put his hands up to stop anymore of Lance’s advances, smiling triumphantly.

“I found the plant!”

~*~

After that mission, Lance and Keith got even closer. It turns out that Lance is actually a pretty decent listener, and actually gives good advice as well. Besides Shiro, Keith has never really had someone to confide in, and Lance helped make the impossible feat of leading the team feel a little more manageable. 

It was one of those nights where Keith couldn’t sleep, and he found himself making the familiar trek to Lance’s room. He knocked softly, not wanting to wake the other boy if he was already asleep. After a moment, the door slid open, revealing a slightly disheveled Lance.

“Did I wake you?” Keith whispered, probably because it was late and he didn’t want to wake the others and definitely not because he noticed that he thought Lance’s tousled hair was attractive.

“No,” Lance answered quickly, though his voice was husky with sleep. “you know I’m always up for you.”

Keith ducked his head to hide his blush and stepped into Lance’s room. There wasn’t much extra space in the rooms for chairs, so the only seating was the bed. Keith perched on the edge, not wanting to intrude too much into Lance’s personal space. Lance, however, threw himself onto the bed, sighing as he found a comfortable position.

“What’s up?” He said, his eyes finding Keith’s.

Keith swallowed. “I can’t sleep. Whenever I’m still for too long, I just get caught up in my own head thinking about the future. No matter how hard I try to think about anything else, I keep circling back to what’ll happen if we fail. If I fail.”

Lance nodded. “So, you need a distraction?”

“I guess so?” It came out more like a question, but Keith wasn’t sure where Lance was going with this line of thought.

“Alright, so let’s just talk until you fall asleep.”

Keith felt his eyebrows furrow incredulously. “You want me to sleep here?”

“Hey, it’s a tight squeeze, but I think we can make it work.” Lance’s soft smile was already melting the tension from Keith. He was just so tired, and Lance was so warm and inviting.

“Okay.” Keith said finally, Lance moving over to make room for him. If Keith wanted to take his mind of his dark thoughts, being in close proximity with Lance was already working to make his brain short-circuit. 

That night, Lance listened to Keith ramble until he was too tired to do more than mumble quietly. For the first time in a long while, Keith slept soundly and with no nightmares. And if the two boys woke up tangled in each other’s arms, neither mentioned it.

Soon, it became commonplace for Keith to seek asylum in Lance’s room, so much so that he even left some things in a drawer of Lance’s in case they woke up to late for him to run back to his room and change for the day. 

Tonight, again. Keith made his way to Lance’s room. He didn’t even knock, he just went in and crashed into the bed. Lance made a small noise of surprise, but didn’t say anything. Keith remained silent, the nightmare he had just had making him want to cry, but he still wasn’t comfortable completely letting his walls down in front of anybody. After a while, Lance slid a tentative arm around Keith’s waist. Keith inched closer to Lance, curling his fingers into his nightshirt and pressing his face into Lance’s chest. With his face out of sight, Keith let the tears fall, his body trembling slightly. Lance’s arms tightened around him, and Lance rested his chin on top of Keith’s head.

After a few minutes, Keith choked out, “What if we never find him?”

A pause. “Shiro?”

Keith nodded, knowing Lance could feel it.

“You can’t think like that, Keith.” Lance began rubbing soothing circles on Keith’s back as he spoke.

“But what if? I can’t lose him, too.” Keith clenched his jaw against the sob that threatened to shudder through him.

Lance’s movements stalled for a moment before starting up again. “We will find him. Even if we don’t, Shiro would want you to be strong. To lead.”

Keith shook his head furiously. “I can’t. Not without him.”

“Do you love him?” Lance’s voice came out somewhat strained, but Keith couldn’t figure out why.

“He’s like my brother. He’s the only one who knows what I went through with my,” Keith couldn’t help stumbling over the words. “My parents.”

Lance relaxed almost imperceptibly. “You could tell me?”

And when Keith really thought about it, he couldn’t remember why he hadn’t told Lance. Lance was becoming more like his rock with each passing day, and he deserved to know all of Keith’s sordid past more than anyone. So, he told him. Everything. 

“And that’s why you’re so guarded, huh?” Lance let out a breathy laugh.

“Yeah.” Keith mumbled, feeling a bit embarrassed.

“Thanks for telling me that, Keith.”

Keith responded by tightening his grip on Lance.

“Keith?”

“Yeah?” Keith could feel himself growing tired, emotionally exhausted.

“You aren’t your parents. You’re amazing, strong, reliable. You won’t make their mistakes.”

Lance said this so earnestly, so convincingly, that Keith felt tears well up in his eyes again. He found it hard to speak around the lump in his throat, so he nodded instead. Though so much was still unsure, Keith knew one thing for sure. Lance was there for him, and this knowledge gave him enough peace of mind to fall asleep that night.

~*~

The paladins were all at a party held in their honor, a planet thanking them for saving their race from Zarkon. The capital was filled with music, food, and dancing, everyone having a good time and letting go. However, Keith couldn’t help the nagging feeling that something was missing. Or, more like someone. Lance was nowhere to be found, and although Keith hated it, his first thought was that maybe he found some hot alien to romance. But upon further inspection, he saw a very Lance-like silhouette standing near the lake in front of the castle where the party was held. Keith made his way towards his friend, trying not to be to eager.

Lance turned at the sound of his footsteps, smiling briefly before turning back towards the water. Keith stood beside him, not breaking the peaceful silence between the two, the sound of music being the only sound they could hear. The city lights reflected softly off the lake, illuminating Lance’s face in a yellow glow. 

“Do you remember the mission in the jungle?” Lance asked, finally breaking the silence.

“When we were looking for that plant?” Lance nodded, so Keith answered, “Yes, of course.”

“The lake looked a lot like this.” 

Keith turned and took a minute to actually observe the lake. “Yeah, they do look similar. Is that why you came out here?”

“I guess so.” Lance shrugged, turning towards Keith. “I also didn’t want to deal with any more adoring fans.”

Keith snorted. “And here I was thinking you would be off with some girl.”

Lance didn’t grin like Keith expected him to. Instead, he remained serious. “I can be serious about someone.”

Keith felt the air leave his lungs at Lance’s expression, something stirring deep in his gut. “I know.”

“Good.”

Another silence stretched between them, not quite as comfortable as the one before it. Keith felt himself grow restless.

“You know, last time we were at a lake, we swam.”

Lance arched an eyebrow at him and asked, “You want to swim?”

“No, but,” Keith took a breath, ready to play it off as a joke if this didn’t go as planned. “We could dance?”

It could’ve just been pity, but Lance stepped closer and allowed Keith to rest his hands on his shoulders. Lance placed his hands gently on Keith’s waist. They swayed gently to the music, Keith glad for the darkness because his face must’ve been beet red. Being this close to Lance was almost intoxicating, and when their eyes met, Keith felt his breath hitch. Lance smiled, and Keith returned it.

They spent what felt like a blissful eternity in each other’s arms, but suddenly, there was a large boom. The two jumped apart, looking up to see a fleet of Zarkon’s ships flying towards the ground. Party-goers and citizens alike ran outside, panic starting to settle in.

“Lance!” Keith shouted over the chaos, signalling thag they should find the others. Together, they sprinted through the crowds towards the castle. The ships began to land around them, soldiers pouring out and firing at the screaming people. Keith picked up a small child that was in his path and brought her with him towards safety.

As the paladins assembled, they readied their weapons as they moved towards the soldiers and their lions. Everything seemed to be going okay until Keith heard it. Shouts sounded around him, warning him, one loudest than the others.

“Keith!” He heard Lance scream. Keith turned, ready to shoot the soldier that was coming towards him quickly from the left, but he wasn’t ready to shield himself from the blast already flying towards him. He braced himself for the pain, but it never came. Instead, he watched in horror as Lance flung himself in front of him, absorbing the blast.

“Lance!” His voice cracked on his scream, panic already making his hands shake as he fell to his knees beside the smoking body.

The others worked to protect the two as Keith carefully gathered Lance into his arms. He ran towards his lion, begging that he would make it back to the healing chambers in time.

~*~

When Lance finally came to, it was the middle of the night almost a full week later after the attack. Keith hadn’t left Lance’s side during that time except to shower, not wanting to risk missing him waking up. Keith was dozing in a chair he had dragged over to the side of the healing pod when hissing air woke him up. The glass opened, and Lance fell forward, Keith jumping up to catch him before he hit the ground.

“Lance!” Keith said, tears welling up in his eyes as the other boy finally, finally opened his eyes. “Thank the stars.”

“Hey.” Lance croaked.

Keith pulled Lance close, letting the tears fall freely now. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if I had lost you. I was almost all alone again.”

“I’ll never leave you alone, Keith.”

Keith cried harder at that. “You dumb, stupid, brainless idiot!”

Lance chuckled, letting one hand come up to run through Keith’s hair. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

Keith jerked back at that. “Why did you think that was a good decision?! Why did you do that?!”

“Do you remember the lake?”

Keith nodded, not knowing what this had to do with sacrificing himself.

“I still remember how I felt that day. Everytime I look at you, I remember that feeling. That was the first time I realized that, well, that I loved you.” Lance’s eyes sparkled with a kindness that stopped Keith’s tears.

“You,” Keith was shocked. “You love me?”

“Ever since I realized that you aren’t perfect. You’re messy and flawed like the rest of us. You needed someone to rely on, and I wanted to be that person. I still do. If you’ll have me.” For the first time during this conversation, Lance looked unsure or himself.

“Of course, you idiot.” Keith kissed him, soft and slow, conveying just how much Keith wanted Lance and how much he loved him back. Keith pulled back, smiling. He took Lance’s hand and kissed it, hoping to show how Lance was the best thing that had ever been his.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if there are some mistakes in this! I wrote it pretty quickly after getting hit with the inspiration for it. Please comment or leave kudos so I know if I’m on the right track!


End file.
